


The Blue Dragon

by myxstorie



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-26
Updated: 2013-08-26
Packaged: 2017-12-24 17:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/942608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myxstorie/pseuds/myxstorie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>G; Ueda/Junno, Yara/Junno friendship</i><br/>Boxer!Ueda for <span class="ljuser i-ljuser"><a href="http://imifumei.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://imifumei.livejournal.com/"><b>imifumei</b></a></span>, <span class="ljuser i-ljuser"></span><a href="http://fic-the-faith.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://fic-the-faith.livejournal.com/"><b>fic_the_faith</b></a>'11 with much love to Pippa for beta- and Tacchan-help :D Late one night, a stranger turns up at Ueda's gym. Originally posted <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/fic_the_faith/15712.html">here</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Blue Dragon

_Slip, block, fall back into a full crouch, feint, half-uppercut to the chin-_

Facing off against his invisible opponent, Ueda had barely broken a sweat before the obnoxious trill of his cellphone disturbed his (relative) peace and quiet now that the other trainers and athletes had gone home for the day and the gym was technically closed. Shaking the layers of chestnut-brown hair out of his eyes, he half-considered ignoring it, but a glance at the clock high up on the far wall showed him that Koki was already fifteen minutes late.

Tugging at the strings of his gloves with his teeth, the phone had stopped ringing by the time he'd gotten the first one off, but it started up again not a moment later so Ueda yanked the other glove off and dug out the source of the noise with his fingers. The bandages wrapped tightly around his hands made it awkward to get a good hold on it, but he managed to stab at the little green _accept call_ button and cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear.

"Yes?"

 _"It's me."_ Koki's voice was sharp and tinny. He was always telling Ueda to invest in an up-to-date cellphone but really, the one he had still worked perfectly fine, so Ueda didn't see the point. _"I'm gonna be late. Traffic."_

"I figured," Ueda replied, almost shrugging before he remembered that Koki couldn't actually _see_ him, and the motion would almost certainly knock the phone from its rather precarious perch. "How long d'you think you'll be?"

There was a pause and a soft hum that Koki always made when he was thinking. He was never very good at keeping quiet, even when he wasn't speaking. "Half an hour, maybe? I dunno. You gonna be alright getting on by yourself until I get there?"

Ueda hummed his agreement and tapped his foot softly against the matting beneath his training shoes. "See you soon," he said, an edge of finality to his voice, and carefully fumbled the phone into his hands again.

 _"By the way, Tat-chan-"_ Koki continued, but Ueda had already hung up on him before he could get any further, eager to get back to training while his adrenaline was still pumping.

Ueda Tatsuya - or _The Blue Dragon_ as he was known in the ring - had taken up boxing aged twenty-three, much to the chagrin of his parents, although he was old enough by then that nothing they could say would have stopped him. Sadly, that didn't prevent his mother from voicing her opinions very loudly to him _and_ all her friends, as he'd found out when one of them stopped him in the street one afternoon and inquired - with genuine concern - about the state of his mid-life crisis. _I'm twenty-three!_ His brain had screeched, but his mouth said nothing of the sort, his stunned silence lasting long enough that eventually she had just shook her head sadly and patted him on the shoulder. He knew what they said about him too, how a face as pretty as his shouldn't be inside a boxing ring, and how much of a shame it would be when - when, _when_ , not _if_ \- he ruined it.

He'd just gotten back into a decent rhythm again, _jab, jab, right hook, block_ , when there was a clatter of things hitting the ground and a soft curse behind him. Ueda spun around and habitually shielded his face - his pretty, pretty face, he thought with a silent snort of derision - with his bandaged hands.

"Ah, sorry for disturbing!" The intruder called, and Ueda forced himself into a more relaxed stance as he watched the other man scoop up his bag and keys. _Keys?_ Only the trainers and the most dedicated of the athletes had keys. Ueda had keys. Strangers he'd never seen before _shouldn't_ have keys.

"The lights were on," The other man continued, wide grin bright on his face and apparently oblivious to Ueda's hard stare, "So I figured it would be okay to let myself in. Tanaka gave me a key and told me to- Ah! You must be Tat-chan!"

Ueda's frown deepened at the use of such an informal nickname and he opened his mouth to respond, but the other man was still talking, eyes crinkled deeply at the corners.

"I'm Junno! Taguchi Junnosuke, but you can call me Junno. Koki's told me so much about you!"

Well, Ueda couldn't exactly point out this guy's over-familiarity _now_. Instead, he nodded once, and murmered a low _nice to meet you_.

"I just moved into the area yesterday," Junno went on, and dropped his bag to the floor next to the ring, "Koki said it would be okay for me to come and check out the gym, because he'd be here late with you." His eyebrows shot up into his fringe, "I hope I'm not disturbing you! It's okay for me to be here, right?"

Something about the flash of panic in his eyes and the loss of such a brilliant smile had Ueda shaking his head firmly. "No, no, it's fine. What do you do?"

By the time Koki arrived forty minutes later, Ueda hadn't managed to get any more practice in, but he _had_ heard Junno's life story - or so it seemed. Born in Kanagawa, as a teenager he'd loved to swim and surf, and met one Tomoyuki Yara whilst vacationing in Chiba. Yara had laughed at him when he fell off his board, and had pitched a strong case about dance being an integral part of becoming an outstanding surfer. Junno had scoffed at first, but over the next week Yara had taught him how to hold himself and control his balance and poise on land, and on water, and by the end of his time there, Junno's parents had had to practically drag him away. That he went back home a far more talented surfer with a passion for dance was just a pleasant addition to the firm friendship that had blossomed between them.

After school he'd had dreams of being a professional dancer, but injury had forced him to take a break not even a year later for surgery and intensive physical therapy. Despite his dedication and hard work, the doctors told him his knee would never be the same, and advised him against doing anything too that would put too much stress on his joints. In the seemingly bleak, dreary days that followed, Yara had paid him a visit and Junno had discovered his friend's current boom - boxing.

 _And the rest,_ Junno had said, _was history._

-

_Pull back, bob, cover-up into a short straight punch, straighten and right-hand overcut to finish._

Several weeks after his chance meeting with Junno, Ueda was back in the gym with Koki, training for his next big fight. He certainly wasn't a pro by any standards, but he was a damn sight better than a lot of the amateurs that frequented the gym - not that he'd ever say that to their faces, of course. Koki had no such qualms however, and took great pleasure in pointing out Ueda's talents whenever possible.

"Brilliant!" His trainer crowed, ducking into the ring and slapping him firmly on the back before surruptitiously wiping his palm on his sweatpants, "I'd like to see anyone in this gym go up against you and win, Tat-chan!"

To show his appreciation, Ueda elbowed him in the stomach, but couldn't hide his pleased grin.

"Oi oi!" Junno called out from the side where he was holding a sandbag steady for Yara. His voice shook with every punch his friend landed, but he carried on regardless, "None of that, we might start getting a complex!"

Koki just laughed and waved him off. "Tat-chan's the best and you know it."

"If you think he could take down my boy, you're gonna be in for a heavy wait!"

Yara doubled over mid-right hook and started laughing, full-throated and loud enough to echo off the walls. Koki shook his head sadly and rolled his eyes, throwing a spare mouthguard in Junno's vague direction while Ueda hid his smile by gulping down some water. It hadn't taken him long to get used to Junno's wordplay habit, even if his puns weren't always as hilarious as he seemed to think they were. He could certainly see why he hit it off with Yara so quickly though; they might as well have had the one sense of humour between them.

Junno and Yara just shared a high five, oblivious to - or uncaring of - anyone else's reaction.

Ueda silently hoped he never had to fight against Yara, and not just because the guy was so unfailingly cheerful that he'd hate to wipe the look from his face. In the few weeks he'd been here, Junno had wormed his way into Ueda's life like exactly that - a worm. A tall, slender, brunette worm with a big heart and an even bigger smile that awoke the butterflies that seemed to have taken up residence in his stomach every time he saw it. If he was ever put up against Yara, Ueda was almost positive he'd lose - regardless of whether Yara was good enough to beat him, he didn't think he'd be able to cope with Junno's disappointment if Yara lost.

"When's your big fight?" Yara asked, and Ueda blinked, realising belatedly that they'd both stopped laughing and were ducking into the ring themselves. Dropping to the mat in one corner, Ueda crossed his legs and started undoing his gloves, just in case Junno or Koki got any big ideas about making that fight a reality.

"Saturday," Koki answered for him. "He's up against some guy from a gym on the outskirts called _Beast_." Normally, Ueda would've thumped Koki for talking for him, but right now he could feel Junno's eyes on him and was too preoccupied by keeping his feelings off his face to care all that much.

Junno and Yara made appropriately awed-slash-threatened noises, then shared a look and burst out laughing all over again. Ueda knew he'd have been lying to himself if he thought the nasty taste in the back of his throat was anything but what it really was. God _damn_ it he hated being jealous.

-

The day of the match came around all too quickly, and Ueda didn't know if he'd ever feel totally prepared. There was always something else he wanted to do, some move to practice, some stance to perfect, and despite the weeks and weeks of training he'd put in, there was _always something._

He'd told Junno not to come, told him it wasn't going to be a fight worth watching, told him this _Beast_ would be a terrible opponent, told him every single thing under the sun he could think of to convince Junno to stay at home. It wasn't that he didn't want to see him, nothing like that at _all_ , because Junno simply being in the room made Ueda feel a little better, a little more confident, that much more sure of himself, but the last thing he wanted was for Junno to see him show some kind of weakness, to see him getting _hit_. Logically, Ueda knew it would to happen, he knew _Junno_ knew it would happen, because that's what people _did_ in boxing matches, but that didn't make it any easier for him to be okay with Junno watching him take a fist to the face.

There was a respectably sized crowd there to see the fight, and Ueda wondered if they'd placed bets on the winner, wondered who they'd decided _looked_ like the winner. Whilst half of him looked upon the mere act of betting on who would take the other out first with scorn, the other half wanted desperately to prove himself to those people who had bet in favour of his opponent, wanted to show them he _wasn't_ just a pretty face and that he could put up just as good a fight as - _better_ than, even - anybody else.

As the crowd started to settle down, someone with a head of wild auburn curls sauntered towards them, hands shoved into pockets that were all but hidden by the checked shirt tied around his waist. He walked straight past the pull-away steps and hoisted himself up onto the edge of the ring in Ueda's corner instead, swinging his legs around and slipping underneath the ropes, where Koki pulled him to his feet with a practiced ease.

"Yo, Taipi!" His trainer grinned, "My man!"

 _Taipi?_ Ueda snorted to himself, unsure of exactly how manly someone with such a nickname - and that _hair_ \- could possibly be. The fist bump he and Koki shared, and the unnaturally long, complicated handshake that followed certainly seemed manly enough though, even if the pair _did_ ruin it by ending it in a hug.

"Make sure you make it good, a'ight?"

"Will do, boss."

The emcee - at least, Ueda certainly _hoped_ he was the emcee - took to the center of the ring, waved for quiet and started his introductions. Out of the corner of his eye, Ueda saw movement, and when he turned to see who was still wandering around, was greeted by a familiar, smiling face.

"What are you _doing_ here?!" Ueda hissed with a glare, but Junno just blinked back at him.

"You thought I wouldn't come?"

"I _told_ you not to come!"

"So?" Junno questioned, "I thought you were just playing it cool, y'know, like when the guy says to the girl, 'Oh, my party's gonna suck, so it's totally fine if you don't want to come.'"

Ueda flushed at the comparison, and he hoped that if Junno saw he'd attribute it to nerves. "No! I didn't mean-" He started, but Junno interrupted him before he could say anything that might have turned out to be offensive.

"Come on, Dragon-boy, don't be so _reluctant_!"

Junno grinned like he'd just been terribly clever, but before Ueda could say anything else Koki had shooed Junno away leaned in closer with a hand on Ueda's shoulder.

"He's totally into you, y'know," Koki muttered as Junno joined the rest of the audience.

"What?" Ueda spluttered, "I- Who?"

"Junno." Koki said matter-of-factly, then repeated, as if Ueda hadn't heard him the first time, "He's into you."

"But I- he- what makes you think I'd want to _know_ that?"

"Dude, how long have we known each other? I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I look."

"And you're telling me this _now_?!"

 _"He might be from out of town,"_ The emcee - or _Big T_ as he'd introduced himself to the crowd - was in full swing now, and Ueda knew there was no chance of continuing this conversation, _"But he's a local to the ring! All brawn, there's certainly no beauty here! Give it up foooooor **Beast**!"_

The crowd cheered, and Koki winked. "No time like the present." He pushed Ueda's mouthguard in and shoved him to his feet, "Now go do your thing."

Ueda made a strangled sound and shot Koki a fierce look, but couldn't do much more because Taipi had turned towards him and was gesturing with the hand that wasn't holding the microphone.

"He's clawed his way up and is soaring right to the top of the table! Can anyone slay this fiery contender? It's _The Bluuuuuue Dragon_!"

The crowd cheered again, wilder this time, and Ueda felt the surge of adrenaline now that he was out there in the ring. Pounding his gloves together a few times, he punched the air, face the picture of determination, and the shouts grew as one, cheering him on to victory. His opponent was already in place and Ueda joined him, knocking their gloves together in a show of companionship that neither of them really felt. They weren't there to make friends, they were there to win.

-

Six rounds in out of a total of eight, and Ueda had taken a real beating. Sometime around the fourth round, when Ueda had gone down for the first time, Junno had left the audience to stand ringside, but Ueda was finding it easier to ignore his presence than he'd thought when his opponent was beating the stuffing out of him. He'd insisted he was fine when Koki had questioned him on their last break, sixty seconds of blissful peace to gulp down some water and suck in a few heaving breaths, but another swift jab caught his jaw and he stumbled as his head spun. Ueda - a swarmer in practice, preferring to get up close and 'swarm' his opponent with a flurry of short, quickly executed blows - was finding it all but impossible to take down this wall of muscle despite his own strength, every uppercut and hook seeming to have absolutely no effect on the other fighter. _Beast_ , a clear brawler, was wiping the floor with him, the sheer force behind each punch he got in sending Ueda's head for a tailspin every time.

Through the haze that had begun to settle over his eyes, he heard the bell for another break, and pushed his feet into action before slumping down on his stool. He spat out his mouthguard and greedily accepted the water bottle, barely feeling Koki's hand on his shoulder.

"You need to stop, Tat-chan, just let the guy win. Please." Someone was saying, but they sounded too distant for Ueda to be able to figure out who it was.

Ueda shook his head, blinking it away when the world spun for a moment. "I'm fine," he insisted, and scooped up his mouthguard from the floor, shoving it back in and biting down on it. Koki looked about thirty seconds away from begging for a TKO, but Ueda was already heading back out for round seven. Only two more to go, then it would be finished. He'd taken too much of a beating to win now, he knew, but at least he could say he'd gone the distance.

The bell had barely finished ringing for them to go again when _Beast_ aimed a cross punch at his face. Ueda defended with a cover-up and a slip to the side, aiming for a cross counter with his left hand, but _Beast_ was already there, uppercut catching his chin and sending him stumbling backwards.

Shaking it off, Ueda fell back into a full crouch and faked a short straight punch to _Beast_ 's abdomen just like he'd practiced, then switched it at the last moment to a half uppercut to his chin. His glove struck home and the other man's head flew back, but before he'd even recovered he was throwing another cross at Ueda's temple, and his fist connected with a sickening thud.

Ueda didn't even feel himself hit the floor.

-

When he came to, he wasn't in the ring anymore.

He wasn't even anywhere _near_ the ring, if the bed he was lying in was any indication. The light made his head throb when he opened his eyes fully, and his arms protested when he pushed himself up into more of a sitting position, and his head felt like it had been run over by a generously-sized truck. He'd definitely felt better in the past.

Ueda started as a figure he'd missed before sat forward in the chair next to his bed

"Hey, sleepyhead," Junno grinned, and got up to prop the tiny hospital pillow up behind Ueda's back, "It's about time you decided the real world is better than dreamland."

Ueda decided sticking his tongue out was _ample_ reply for Junno's jibes. "Where's Koki?" He asked instead, then, "What time is it?"

"About eleven," Junno said, glancing at his watch and nodding when it apparently matched his guess, "Koki... He had to leave. Visiting hours and all that."

Ueda hummed in understanding, then frowned. "So why did they let you stay? Do they know you're here?"

Junno nodded again, and Ueda saw a blush creeping up the other man's cheeks. "I might've... um... toldthemIwasyourboyfriend," he said, almost too quickly for Ueda's still-fuzzy mind to catch. _Almost._

Ueda blinked stupidly for a moment, then what Koki had told him in the ring moments before the fight came flooding back to him. "Ah," he said intelligently, and Junno rushed to apologise.

"I'm sorry!" He said, face the picture of distress as he wrung his hands in front of him, "I really am, I just, I was so worried about you when you went down like that, and they kept trying to get me to go home, so I just, I said that... I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have."

"Oi," Ueda said after a moment, then again, a little softer when Junno was still staring at his hands like they were the most interesting things in the world, "Oi."

Junno's eyes flicked up to meet his own, and Ueda swallowed.

"Would it really be that bad?" He asked, "You know... being my boyfriend?"

The sudden confidence wasn't something he was used to from himself, but he'd already said it now and he couldn't exactly take it back. Must be all the painkillers they'd dosed him up with, even if they no longer seemed to be doing their job.

At least Junno didn't look horrified.

In fact, he looked anything but, a slow smile spreading across his features.

"Tat-chan, are you asking me out?"

Ueda frowned, cheeks burning already, "Shut up, idiot, or I'll make you pay."

That just made Junno grin even more, and he scooted his chair closer to the bed.

"That's just the drugs talking," He teased, then carried on a little more seriously despite the happy grin still plastered across his face, "The doctor said there don't seem to be any internal injuries or bleeding, but they're keeping you in for a little while just in case. They'll probably want to do a few tests before they let you go home, too."

"But I feel fine!"

Junno sent him a stern look that seemed completely out of place, but did its job well enough that it might as well have come from his mother. "You said that last time, now look at you."

Ueda looked down the sheets, suddenly crestfallen. He'd lost. He hadn't even been able to finish the match. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Junno said, voice surprisingly gentle, "He beat you with brute force, that's all."

Ueda scoffed. "You'll be telling me to pick on someone my own size next."

Junno shrugged nonchalently. "So he punched you in the face a couple of times," he said, " _You_ were the one with the talent up there. Some of your footwork was amazing. He barely knew what his feet _were_."

Ueda couldn't help chuckling, then winced as the smile made the muscles in his face scream in protest. He wondered if it would really be this easy to fall into a relationship with Junno, just a backhanded invitation and things would continue on as normal, but with one big difference.

"Thanks," he murmured, almost too quietly to be heard, but in the silence of the room he was sure Junno's ears could pick it up. His thoughts were confirmed when the other man scooted closer and reached out to take hold of his hand, lacing their fingers together tightly. He squeezed comfortingly and placed a shy kiss on Ueda's knuckles, then gave him a smile. No sunshine grins this time, but a soft, beautiful curve of his mouth with a sparkle in his eyes that took Ueda's breath away.

"Any time."


End file.
